


moments

by Marvellous



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, M/M, i don't actually know what this is, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:48:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21642469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvellous/pseuds/Marvellous
Summary: being in love with mac was just another intrusive thought, until it wasn't
Relationships: Mac McDonald/Dennis Reynolds
Comments: 17
Kudos: 115





	moments

**Author's Note:**

> so, i think dennis has always known deep down that he loves mac, and maybe entertains the thought in brief passing in his head, but ofc brushes it off as intrusive thoughts that he’d rather ignore. 
> 
> inspired by a prompt received on tumblr, bc i too am crazy about dennis realizing he's in love with mac.

Small moments.

There was always small moments.

Like when they were kids under the bleachers, sitting on the cold pavement with broken sunlight on their faces. Dennis remembered seeing Mac’s eyes close and the shadow of his eyelashes cast against his cheeks, and a runaway thought coursed through his brain that the kid, Ronnie the rat, was pretty...in a completely not gay way, because that was ridiculous, he reminded himself. Mac and Charlie were just the dudes he bought weed from. Plain and simple. The reason he hung out with them so much was for the discounts. Obviously. 

Then when Mac coerced him into going with him to get one of his tattoos. The shop was seedy, the artists (if you could call them that) even sketchier. Dennis was definitely finding him a better shop next time. Mac chose the dragon to go on his forearm, and Dennis scoffed, but he didn’t try and talk him out of it. The guy was rough on Mac’s skin and Dennis had sat off to the side, but he watched as Mac’s face contorted with pain and before he knew it he was holding Mac’s hand, watching as tears leaked from his eyes. 

“Thank you, Den,” he murmured, and Dennis remembered a flicker of a thought, that helping Mac deal with his pain…that it was worth it. It was worth being there for him. He always wanted to be there for him, not that he’d ever actually tell that to Mac. That devotion, it was obviously just because they were best friends. What else would it be? What could it ever be? 

There was the time on the cruise when he thought they were dying. And Mac looked at him like that while squeezing his hand, and Dennis wished he could have one more rush of air in his lungs so he could tell Mac that he loved him too. But then when they could breathe, when there was air once more, those words got stuck, and pushed away back into that deep dark hole, because it was only the lack of oxygen that made him think that in the first place. 

The RPG. The pure mess of thoughts in his head made it a memory that was almost difficult to look back on. Mac cared about him, he always did, and Dennis knew that, but he really knew it then, and it was not just because they were friends. Mac loved him. He had to deal with that, right? He had to face what that meant and ask himself if that same river ran between both of them. Instead, he left. 

In North Dakota, he was brutally honest with himself. Maybe he did love Mac. If he loved him and he left him like only an asshole could, then maybe this was the way things were always meant to be. He shouldn’t be in his life anymore. Mac was out, and he could live whatever life he wanted. He didn’t need Dennis anymore, maybe he never did. Dennis’ heart though, it was a little more needy. Yah, he needed Mac. He held onto that, for a little while.

And maybe that didn’t reflect in his choices when he came back. Everything was so much...a sensory overload, and he took it out on everyone. Mac most of all.

Mac looked like he had things together, it was that new confidence he had shining through creating a false image. It seemed like he really didn’t need Dennis so badly anymore, he was a little more whole, and then there was Dennis who only felt like he was ready to fall apart. But the night came after Mac did his dance, and Dennis realized he didn’t have it all together after all. While they sat on the couch together and Mac wiped the tears from his eyes, Dennis thought maybe they were just two broken people who would always desperately needed each other. 

Things settled, and their lives held what it used to, they were two codependent losers once more, but they were happier. Maybe their hands lingered on each other’s a little longer, and they stayed up later just to be together, maybe Dennis was okay with Mac falling asleep in his bed sometimes because that meant he would sleep through the night. Things were good, their unspoken little rituals were better. They both knew, but Mac never pushed Dennis, and Dennis never played with Mac. At some sort of standstill until the dust cleared and they were both able to put it into words.

It was okay. It was comfortable, and Dennis didn’t have to think too much. It was nice.

They were grocery shopping. Dennis’ nose was screwed up as he looked at the different kinds of tea on the shelf. He already had their regular ones in his hand, but thought that maybe he should pick something new, too. Just for fun. 

“Dennis,” he heard Mac’s voice from down the aisle, which tore his attention from the heavy decision making on his shoulders, “What kind of coffee?” 

“Just...just get the regular stuff?” Dennis said absentmindedly, deciding their normal was good enough and walking over to Mac who was having trouble with his own decision. He tossed the boxes of tea into the basket Mac was holding and propped his arm up on Mac’s shoulder as he looked at the different kinds of coffee with him, “Get whatever, man.”

“But, Dennis...” Mac huffed as he squinted, reading all the labels way too carefully. 

“If it’s that hard, just choose more than one,” Dennis urged, but leaned into the other man, content to stay as long as Mac needed. 

The squeaky sounds of a cart wheeling behind them tore Mac’s gaze away from the copious amount of coffee, a baby staring back at him pretty intensely. Dennis could see Mac raise his eyebrows before sticking out his tongue and making ridiculous faces at the infant. 

The baby’s mouth gaped for half a second before it started giggling, chubby arms waving as it watched Mac.

Its mom turned around to see what was making her child so happy, sharing an amused smile with Dennis. 

Dennis felt something warm spread through his chest as he watched Mac then. The man he had relied on so much since he was a teenager was so full of warmth and good things. He cared so deeply for Dennis even though he knew him best, which meant all that bad shit? He understood. And Dennis knew the same, who else could he ever know as well as he knows Mac? And then all of a sudden that little thought that had been gnawing away at him all those years really sank its teeth in. The muscles in Dennis’ body tensed. 

Dennis was in love with Mac.

The laughter in Mac’s shoulders settled as the baby disappeared and he was back to humming over coffee. 

“Can’t you choose?” Mac whined.

“You…”

Mac looked at Dennis, one eyebrow raised, “What?” 

Dennis worried at his lip. He had to do it now, or else he’d lose that brief moment of certainty to the wind, the time would come and go and they’d be back to waiting. Dennis knew now. He didn’t have to think about it now, right now in that moment, he knew what he’d always known, but it was fresh and wild and he couldn’t let it slip away again. 

“I love you,” Dennis’ voice was strangled, as if he’d just stopped holding his breath and that rush of air finally came, and he could stop drowning. Now, he could breathe. 

Mac’s lip quivered and he dropped the basket of groceries in his other hand as he turned toward Dennis, “You do? You love me, Dennis?”

Dennis just nodded in lieu of words, the lump in his throat making it hard to do just that. And Mac’s smile widened, his big brown eyes soft as he looked at Dennis like they weren’t in some too-bright grocery store that smelled like floor cleaner. 

Now, their small moments could grow into what they deserved to be.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, comments and kudos always much appreciated <3


End file.
